


Starstruck

by Kamu



Series: Solely a Pair [3]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fluff, M/M, Thighs, flower shop au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-25
Updated: 2014-12-25
Packaged: 2018-02-27 20:47:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2706197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kamu/pseuds/Kamu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"N-n-naifu-naisu legs! I mean, daisies! Nice daisies."</p><p>...</p><p>At one in the blazing afternoon on a typical slow Saturday, Shouyou doesn't know what to say to Tall, Tight-lipped, and Cool-turned-Awkward Stranger when said guy splutters out the most unique string of compliments.</p><p>With such a bare minimum amount of change in summer days spent in his flower shop, he has come to appreciate the littlest things others would find boring, one of those being the gruff individual who harbors a surprisingly endearing attachment to the delicate white flower.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Starstruck

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Rima](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rima/gifts).



> This is for the HQ Secret Santa exchange this year! My recipient is Rima @ acefairy on tumblr. They had requested a cute AU so I thought, why not flower shop?  
> I tried to tone it down to G as much as possible, and the result is this ending up like a short one shot and purely fluffy first crush kagehina.  
> With the way I've written this, it has potential to be continued as a multi-chapter fic, but I already have another flower shop au fic to complete.  
> (Also, to any bokuaka readers, I apologize for misleadingly making it so that this series was solely akaashi and bokuto. Nope, it's all about the HQ thighs.)

This slow, uneventful life is not the one Shouyou had dreamed of, but he can live with it. With such a bare minimum amount of change in summer days spent in his shop, he has come to appreciate the littlest things others would find boring.

Shouyou won’t admit that it pleases him when Tall, Tight-lipped, and impossibly Cool Stranger waltzes into his shop every Wednesdays and Saturdays only to sometimes leave with a mini sized batch of daisies.

No, he absolutely _loathes_ when the guy struts in and scowls at all the flowers with a finger pinched to his scrunched up nose while biting out a grudging thanks every time he’s done purchasing. The encounters leave him terrified and equally curious about how a customer could be so grumpy yet buy the cheeriest and simplest flowers with such a satisfied, happy look on his face when he thinks Shouyou’s back is turned.

So far, it’s one of the top cute features he adores about Cool Stranger. Contrary to his scary looking scowl, he might actually be a softie on the inside, and only Shouyou knows his secret. He wouldn’t dare leak it, because it’s the only thing linking them together, this strangely mutual understanding as he passes over the daisies into his anticipating (Shouyou notices belatedly, nicely carved) hands.

Noted in his daily quota journal of stocked flowers, daisies are all he buys from his shop. Shouyou has a feeling it might have some deeper sublime meaning, but he knows he’s not witty enough to tell unless told straight away.

Cool Guy eventually catches on and walks in one day fidgeting nervously as he scans the rows and shelves.

“Welcome! Daisies again?” Shouyou calls out from his spot on top of the counter, his legs swinging free to relieve the sweat off his bare skin.

The news had said it was going to heat up, so he had taken care that morning to wear his thinnest cut-off shorts so he could roll them up later once the weather really kicked in. It’s one in the afternoon at the usual time he expects him to arrive on the weekends, and it was so hot in the back break room Shouyou had decided to eat his lunch in the shop instead where the ceiling fan squeaked and threatened to fly off any minute.

Cool Guy startles and catches sight of him from above the shelves, and he ducks when Shouyou waves. With his hand hanging loose in the air, he lets it fall into his lap in disappointment.

“What a downer,” he mutters.

Ten minutes to himself, and there’s a clatter where he thinks Cool-and-Awkward had wandered off to. He leaps down and runs to where the guy is in an aisle and staring at the broken shards of pottery and scattered soil.

“What happened?”

His head snaps up and he gazes fearfully at Shouyou for a moment until he looks away and mumbles so Shouyou has to stride forward and hear.

“...sneezed...pollen…” is what he manages to make out and he understands immediately.

In his most carefree and soothing voice, Shouyou reassures him it’s not his fault. Regardless of how he looked or acted, Cool Guy is still a customer, and making sure the customer is happy is the utmost important task of an employee.

“Hey, it’s alright! It was an accident, and I can just salvage the little guy here and put ‘em in a new pot, see?”

Shouyou skips to grab a brand new pot and a trowel to scoop up the little plant and show him everything was okay.

When Shouyou looks up, he’s shocked when he sees the more Blushing than Cool Stranger growing a gradual tint of red as he avoids looking at Shouyou. His face is turned toward the ceiling and gazing fiercely at something out the window, anywhere but him.

“Oi, what’s the matter?” Shouyou prods as he rises with the newly potted plant in his arms. “You don’t have to pay for any damages, I’ll do that myself."

_At least look at me like how you look at daisies._

The thought comes out of nowhere. He shakes his head adamantly in refusal, which grants him a questioning side glance from Tall Cool Guy.

Shouyou had never noticed before, but he has the most interesting colored eyes. They're such a deep blue and look kind of like lobelias at their richest. Watching them shift from side to side as if looking for an escape would have mesmerized him if not for the fact that he was now speaking to Shouyou in stuttering concentration.

“...this is...er, dammit...uh, because...I saw...you know…n-naifu-naisu legs.” He blushes a beautiful scarlet Shouyou could easily compare to a carnation. “I mean daisies! Nice daisies.”

“Um,” Shouyou stammers out, flushing a little himself.

“I-...uh...s-sorry...N-name!” _C’mon, you can do it._ “I’m...name is Kageyama. Yeah.”

Shifting from foot to foot, Shouyou feels very shy. “Kageyama...Yeah, was it?” he asks, though he already know the answer.

“Tobio. First name,” Kageyama corrects curtly, even haltingly as he scratches his neck with his back as straight as a rod, though this time he’s looking at him with a bit more courage.

“Imma call you Kageyama,” Shouyou informs, the name rolling off his tongue easily. “Is that okay?”

“Yef, course.”

Yef, course? Shouyou repeats silently as he snorts softly to himself. Who knew Kageyama could be so funny?

“Hey, how about we forget about this whole thing? I was thinking about giving this guy a new home anyway.” Shouyou looks down at the pot in his arms, and Kageyama’s eyes widen as he realizes what they are. “Preferably with you.”

“How did you know?” Kageyama asks, his cheeks cooling to a camellia pink.

Shouyou nods his head toward the check-out counter, and they walk over as they make small talk.

“I’m not so forgetful I wouldn’t even notice a customer buying the same exact flowers each time they enter my shop,” Shouyou replies with an affronted pout. “Besides, I look forward to when you come in and browse. ”

“You’ve been watching me?”

Oops.

“I have to make sure no one steals anything. You’re also a hard guy to miss, being so ridiculously tall,” he makes up on the spot, and surprisingly it’s true. Nice quick thinking for once.

“Oh.”

Hopefully it isn’t disappointment Shouyou hears in the tall guy’s voice. He gets a little irritated when he thinks he hears Kageyama muttering, “Honestly, you’re just short…”, or something mean like it.

“So I’m not the only one you have your eye on?” Kageyama inquires, expression unreadable.

Shouyou stops and sends him a look of disbelief over his shoulder. “What? I treat all my customers the same,” he says.

Kageyama broods in silence for a moment before glancing at him with a troubled frown. “Do you ask for all of your customer’s names? Not just me?”

Ah, so that’s what he means.

It finally clicks into place at what Kageyama was trying to get at the whole time. It’s a satisfying last piece to the puzzle, and like many of Shouyou’s rare moments of genius, everything becomes clear and he’s able to see the whole picture.

“You like me?” he asks with a tinge of awe and shock.

“Huh?” Kageyama shakes his head, messing up his very silky looking hair. He backs up with a hand held forward to apparently ward him away. “How did you come to that?”

“The signs were kind of obvious,” Shouyou explains, all the while following him until he’s backed against the counter where Shouyou was just sitting at before. “I don’t mind.”

Kageyama gazes at him warily.”That’s only what you say. You could just be acting polite to turn me down later.”

“Hey, you don’t know me or what I’ll do,” Shouyou retorts. He observes Kageyama’s trembling hand gripping the edge of the counter. “Didn’t you hear me? I like it when you come around. It’s the truth. I think…” He pauses to carefully word this because Shouyou was never good with confessions in the past. “I think I want to know you first. I mean, you don’t even know my name besides what’s on here, right?” He taps his plastic tag where “Shouyou” is displayed on his apron.

“Yeah,” Kageyama admits sheepishly.

“I can’t exactly exchange my personal info when I’m working,” Shouyou ruminates, stepping around Kageyama to go behind the counter. “How about a date?”

“D-date?” He stutters incredulously as he watches Shouyou ring up the pot of daisies with wide eyes. “Is asking someone out so easy?”

“Well, yeah.” Shouyou finds it kind of incredible that Cool Guy Kageyama would think setting up a date wasn’t normal. He seems like the type that would be suave about those kind of things, though the unique introductions before nulls that thinking. “How about tomorrow when I’m off at around eleven? I can maybe get my sister and mom to take over until the afternoon.”

Kageyama fishes out some change and hands it over to him obediently. “Maybe. Volleyball practice might be over by then.”

“Volleyball?”

“It’s for the neighborhood community, but I also play for a professional team.”

“Wow, that’s so cool! Are you famous or ever been on television? How come I’ve never heard of your name before?”

“Shut up. I was just recruited last month, so I’m a reserve player.”

“It’s still amazing. That means you’re talented enough to be the top, what, twenty or so in the country?”

“W-well, when you put it that way, I guess. There’s some people I want to beat no matter what, though.”

Kageyama grins then. His expression goes all determined and far off as he pictures his opponents of the sport he apparently loves enough to play for a career and for fun. It’s a little scary to see, and looks pretty unused if the awkward position of his lips mean anything. If Shouyou ignores the scary aspects of it and focuses on the joy dancing in his eyes and the excited blush high on his cheeks, then it’s a smile he can come to like.

"Do you like volleyball?"

Kageyama snaps his eyes to him, and he breaks into a crooked smile so wide and genuine, he looks happier and like a kid with how much natural it is.

"Yeah, sometimes. It feels great to be useful on the court."

With sudden realization, Shouyou thinks.

_I want to see him smile like that at me, too._

This feeling is too weird and foreign for his heart to think it’s regular friendliness with another stranger. Shouyou feels he's on the verge of discovering something big and life changing as he ponders over this dilemma of his loudly beating heartbeat sounding in his ears.

He’s memorized the contour’s of Kageyama’s face and the silhouette of his relaxed back. Kageyama had left a deep impression on Shouyou, more out of curiosity than anything; he always wondered what he was doing with those flowers that he would need to come back and buy new ones every other week.

Maybe, just maybe, Shouyou has finally found that exciting something that would spice up the current repetitive lifestyle he's been living. His way to pursuing the dreams that others his age were actively achieving will at last be sparked with the path lit before him. The one holding that torch would none other be the clumsy daisy-loving guy standing in front of him, mumbling to himself about "beating senpai" and "annoying, hurry up, you..."

"Kageyama, about that date..."

"Hm?"

"I’ll come by your morning practice. I wanna see how fun this sport is for myself."

"For real? We start at seven, you know. Really early."

"That works out for me! I'm usually done with my morning jog from my house on the mountain to the shop anyways around that time."

"What the heck? How long does it take you to hike up and down such a steep slope?"

"Mm, maybe from about five to half past six? It goes down by fifteen minutes if I pick up my pace to a sprint all the way."

"You're surprisingly health-efficient even if you deal with flowers. But I don’t want you to come,” Kageyama says. “You’d probably suck anyway being a newbie.”

Oh, that’s low. Shouyou acknowledges he does nothing all day while tending to the shop, but Kageyama of all people should know not to believe stereotypes.

“It won’t be my fault if it slips by word of mouth that your team members just so happen to catch on to the rumor that you buy flowers often...and daisies at that…” Shouyou hums flippantly. He brings the purchased flowers along with him as he stands in front of Kageyama, stubbornly holding the daisies close so Kageyama can’t leave until he relents. “I have my ways and connections…as a mere florist, that is.”

“Don’t you dare.”

“I can, though.”

A sigh.

“Fine. We’ll let you try it out.” Kageyama glares at him, though not unkindly. “If you’re shitty, you’re out.”

Curt and grudging. Exactly how Shouyou likes it.

He giggles to himself. “I knew you’d come around.”

Kageyama studies him in utmost concentration. Shouyou can tell because his bottom lip is thrust out and the crease between his eyebrows are scrunched up. It makes him want to tease Kageyama, but he’d probably use that to tease him back. Shouyou won’t take any chances.

“Have you ever been to a volleyball match before?”

Shouyou feels the sweat on his back stick to his shirt.

“Have you been to _any_ sports games?”

When did the temperature rise in the shop? Shouyou needs to fix that ASAP. He shuffles on his feet while looking elsewhere distractedly.

“Gym class in high school?”

“I was always in the infirmary for getting nosebleeds when the ball hit my face. Every class.”

Kageyama blinks at him. He blinks back at Kageyama.

His face shadows and he steps slowly toward Shouyou. He doesn’t know what he’s going to do, but Shouyou’s instincts say fight or flight. He’s leaning more toward the latter.

Kageyama places a hand on his shoulder, and Shouyou thinks this isn’t too bad. It’s when he puts his free hand on his head and squeezes that he gets very, very concerned.

“Dumbass, how can someone suck at sports so much?” he cries in disbelief while shaking Shouyou.

“I don’t know! I wasn’t interested! We didn’t even have a volleyball club in my middle and high school.” Shouyou tries to stabilize his center of gravity to no avail. “Oi, I’m holding your stuff!”

At the reminder, Kageyama lets up on the shaking but settles on gently gripping his head.

“You better go to practice with me from now on. I’ll make it so that you never get a nosebleed from a hit to the face again,” he orders sternly. Or is it him promising to help Shouyou improve? It’s hard to differentiate between the two.

“A-Aye!” Shouyou replies, his head spinning dizzily. “I’ll make sure to come every day!”

Kageyama releases him but stays where he is, which isn’t that far. He gazes down at Shouyou, and this time he has the unreadable blank expression put up.

“Good.”

He says it with a satisfied nod of his head. It’s suspicious with the grin he’s trying to forcibly push down, but Shouyou knows better.

Shouyou shifts the pot into one arm and pokes Kageyama in the chest. “You planned for this,” he states.

“...I didn’t know any other way to get you to stay around.”

He mutters it quietly. He hadn’t expected him to be so blunt, but at least Shouyou knows he’s honest when it counts.

If this is the way Kageyama asks out the people he likes, Shouyou is sure he definitely wouldn’t get bored.

“You really are a volleyball fanatic.”

Kageyama clicks his tongue to the side. “Is that a bad thing?” he asks.

“No, it just means you love a lot.” Shouyou grins warmly as he pushes the pot of daisies into Kageyama’s arms. “And that means there’s a lot there is to like, right? I wanna get in on some of that.”

Kageyama stares at him with an excited expression on his face. “So, yeah?”

“Yeah.”

Without any other words, they understand.

Even with the dainty flowers in hand, Kageyama Tobio’s “first love” toward Shouyou is just starting to grow like the first buds of spring.

And Shouyou, unlike all the other times he's taken care of things in stride, wants this flower to bloom.

 

* * *

_Extra:_

“Hey, give me your number.”

“What are you going to do with?”

“I wanna text you so you tell me where your practice is, duh.”

“Oh. I didn’t realize we were already at that stage.”

“I thought asking for a person’s phone number was pretty basic.”

“W-well, no one’s asked for my number besides the coaches and teachers, so…”

“...”

“Oi, what are you doing?”

“Adding my name! You were taking too long.”

"B-but did you really have to reach over and snatch it from my hands? And...and push me down?"

"It's not my fault you're so freakin' tall. I had to resort to other measures. Okay, there. Hinata Shouyou."

"You're just short. And can you get off? This is getting uncomfortable."

"What, being straddled? I don't think I weigh _that_ much."

"That's not it. It's just...you aren't the only thing that's really short right now."

"..."

"...Ow! What was that for?"

"Don't harass the employee's choice of clothes during work hours, stupid Kageyama!"

"Are you implying it's okay after hours?"

"..."

"So, yeah?"

"...(yeah)."

"Hehe."

"Stop that, you're scaring the nice granny over there."

"Fine. I'll see you tomorrow morning?"

"Tomorrow morning."

"See you...dumbass Hinata."

"Yep, see you, stupid Kageyama."

Shouyou watches him walk toward the shop exit with his daisies in hand, politely allowing the granny to pass in front of him as they make their way home for the evening.

"...he left. That took way longer than I thought. Wait...I never even asked why he buys so many of those daisies! Kageyama! Crap, he's gone. Oh, well."

Shouyou looks out the window, where the sky is beginning to change into dusk.

"There's always tomorrow, and the day after that."


End file.
